Ritland crater
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| Ritland crater | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Ritland crater | |
| Impact crater/structure | |
| Confidence | Confirmed |
| Diameter | 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) |
| Age | 520 ± 20 Ma |
| Exposed | Yes |
| Drilled | No |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 59°14′47.66″N 6°25′17.43″E / 59.2465722°N 6.4215083°E |
| Country | Norway |
| District | Rogaland |
| Municipality | Hjelmeland Municipality |
  Ritland crater Location of the crater  Ritland crater Ritland crater (Norway) | |
The Ritland crater is an impact crater at Ritland farm in Hjelmeland Municipality in eastern Rogaland county, Norway.[1] The crater is about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) east of the village of Hjelmelandsvågen and about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) south of the Jøsenfjorden. The crater is about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) in diameter, and was created when a meteorite with an estimated diameter of 100 metres (330 ft) struck here about 500–600 million years ago. The crater was later buried by sediments, of which it has been partly recovered.
The structure was first discovered as a possible (suspected) impact crater in 2000 by geologist Fridtjof Riis. The Research Council of Norway has funded scientific research on the crater. In 2009, scientists from the University of Oslo considered it proven that the crater was formed by meteorite impact, according to Professor Henning Dypvik from the Institute for Geological Sciences at the University of Oslo.[2]
